Bowling IV, Squier in repechage hunt after Greco-Roman session one

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – It was a slow start at the 2026 U20 World Championships for Team USA. The opening wave of four Greco-Roman competitors was kept out of the win column during session one on Sunday.

Heading into the Greco-Roman group one semifinals, Leister Bowling IV and Aidan Squier are still in the running for a repechage match.

Bowling IV, who was fifth place at last year’s U20 World Championships in Samokov, Bulgaria, was stifled, 6-0, by U20 European champion Samvel Terteryan of Armenia at 77 kg. Terteryan separated in the bout with a pair of passivity points and timely par terre offense.

Squier was handed a tall task in his first Worlds appearance. He was defeated by 2025 Senior World bronze medalist and three-time age-group World medalist Taizo Yoshida of Japan, 10-2, at 87 kg. Yoshida’s output of attacks eventually broke through the positioning of Squier, in what was a close match early on.

Semifinal wins are needed by Terteryan and/or Yoshida to give the U.S. representation in tomorrow’s repechage round.

Also in action were 2024 U17 World Team member Trayvn Boger at 130 kg and Nicholas Sorrow at 63 kg. Boger lost 9-1 to 2023 U17 World bronze medalist and current U20 Asian champion Amirhossein Abdevali of Iran. Sorrow dropped a 10-5 contest to Taiga Hibarino of Japan. Both Abdevali and Hibarino failed to reach the semifinals, knocking Boger and Sorrow out of medal contention.

Read More: U20 World Championships Day One Match Notes

The action continues from A4 Studio at 6 p.m. local time with the Greco-Roman group one semifinals. Bratislava, Slovakia, is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time.

Fans can watch the U20 World Championships live or on-demand at FloWrestling.org. Brackets and live results are available through UWW Arena.

USA Wrestling will provide continued updates from the U20 World Championships on TheMat.com and its social media platforms.